A revised compartmental model for biokinetics and dosimetry of 2-[(18)F]FDG

BACKGROUND: The aim was to review available biokinetic data, collect own experimental data, and propose an updated compartmental model for 2-[(18)F]FDG in the frame of the revision of the ICRP report on dose coefficients for radiopharmaceuticals used in diagnostic nuclear medicine. METHODS: The compartmental model was developed based on published biokinetic data for 2-[(18)F]FDG. Additional data on urinary excretion in 23 patients (11 males, 12 females) undergoing whole-body PET/CT examinations were obtained within this study. The unknown biokinetic model parameters were derived using the software SAAM II and verified with a modified version of IDAC-Iodide. Dose coefficients for reference adults were calculated with the programme IDAC-Dose 2.1. A dynamic bladder model was employed for urinary bladder dosimetry. RESULTS: The proposed model consists of following compartments: blood, heart wall, brain, liver, lungs, pancreas, spleen, kidneys, urinary bladder content and a generic pool compartment “Other”. The latter was introduced to account for 2-[(18)F]FDG in body organ and tissues besides the explicitly modelled ones. The model predictions showed a good agreement with experimental data. Urinary bladder wall received the highest absorbed dose coefficient of 7.5E−02 mGy/MBq under the assumption of initial urine volume of 100 ml, first voiding at 45 min p.i. and 3.75 h voiding intervals thereafter. The effective dose coefficient calculated according to the current dosimetry framework of ICRP amounted to 1.7E−02 mSv/MBq, compared to 1.9E−02 mSv/MBq in ICRP Publication 128. CONCLUSION: A compartmental model for 2-[(18)F]FDG was proposed and will be used to replace the descriptive biokinetic model of ICRP Publication 128. The revised model and the provided dose coefficients are expected to improve reference dosimetry for patients administered with 2-[(18)F]FDG. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40658-023-00528-9.